Professional Documents
Culture Documents
There are 3 phases in any Turnaround Management.
1 The diagnosis of the impending trouble or the danger signals
2. Choosing appropriate Turnaround Strategy
3 Implementation of the change process and its monitoring.
Let us understand each phase individually
Phase I: Watching out for the danger signal
· Decreasing market share / Decreasing constant rupee sales
· Decreasing profitability
· Increased dependence on debt / Restricted dividend polices
· Failure to plough back the profits into business / Wrong diversification at the
expense of the core business.
· Lack of planning
· Inflexible CEO / Management succession problems / Unquestioning Board of
Directors
· A management team unwilling to learn from competitors.
Phase II: Choosing appropriate Strategy
Hoffer, an expert management guru, classifies Turnaround Management into two broad
categories. They are
1. Strategic Turnaround
As the name itself suggests, strategic turnaround choices may force the company to
completely change its current way of operations. The choices under this method are
A new way to compete in the existing business
Entering into an altogether new business
Under the first choice, the focus is either on increasing the market share in a given
productmarket frame work or in repositioning the productmarket relationship. The
increase in market share can be achieved by improving product quality perception
through dealer push or by a consumer pull.
Alternatively, entering a new business as a turnaround strategy can be approached
through the process of product portfolio management.
2. Operating Turnarounds
Basically they are of 4 types and the strategy adopted depends on the various situations in
which the firm is. All these strategies focus on shortterm effects only.
1 Asset reduction strategies
2 Revenue increasing strategies
3. Cost cutting strategies
4 Combination strategies
· If a firm is operating much below the Breakeven level, it must take steps to
reduce its assets. This will reduce the level of fixed costs and help in reducing the
total costs of the firm.
· If the firm is operating substantially but not extremely below its breakeven level,
then the appropriate turnaround strategy is to generate extra revenues.
· Operating closer but below breakeven levels calls for application of combination
strategies. Under this method all the three namely cost reducing, revenue
generating and asset reduction actions are pursued simultaneously in an integrated
and balanced manner. Combination strategies have a direct favourable impact on
cash flows as well as on profits.
· If the firm is operating around or above the breakeven level, cost reduction
strategies are preferable as they are easy to carry out and the firms’ profits rise once
the unnecessary costs are cut down.
Phase III: Implementation of the change process
Implementation plays an important role in any turnaround management. Identification of
an appropriate strategy by itself will not guarantee success. Similarly partial adoption of a
strategy is also not useful. The selected strategy needs to be pursued relentlessly and with
allout effort to make it work. The success or otherwise of a Turnaround strategy depends
on the commitment shown by the top management as also the operating management.
Success Stories
The case of Hindustan Machine Tools
HMT was formed to manufacture machine tools with a foreign collaborator. After nearly
a decade of operation, it decided to diversify into Watch industry. The effect of this
diversification was felt only after 57 years when the main business of HMT crashed and
the company started incurring losses. The watch division came to the rescue and it
generated cash profits to keep the company going.
The case of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
The company was started with the objective of producing power generating equipments
and virtually enjoyed monopoly. But as the years went by because of the inability of the
State Electricity Boards and private sector to set up new power plants, its capacity
utilisation fell down tremendously. To offset this depression, BHEL ventured into
Telecommunications, Metropolitan Transportation and Defense production. Due to this
timely diversification, BHEL is now one of the rare profit making PSUs
Conclusion
It can be thus seen that for Turnaround management to be implemented, it is imperative
for the management to be aware of its position in the industry in which it is functioning
as also its status in the overall scheme of things. Consultants play an invaluable part here
since they help in identifying and vetting the strategy in the light of the prevailing
situations, thus ensuring effective turnaround of the organisation. With the corporate
sector positioned for a giant leap in India, it is time organisations took stock of their
performances, so as to stay in the race.
U.V.Suresh Suresh@astralconsultants.com
Asst. Manager – Management Consulting